IT is always hard to say goodbye to someone close to you.
This is exactly how SolTuna board, management and staff felt Monday last week when they formally bid farewell to their outgoing general manager Jim Alexander and his wife Leo.
Sixty-eight-year-old Mr Alexander has been with SolTuna for 10 years and Noro is where he called home during those 10 years.
To his more than 2000 employees, he is the “best boss ever” because he is friendly, humble, honest, dedicated, down-to-earth and easy to approach.
To the SolTuna Board, Mr Alexander is a man of integrity, humility and respect.
“I can say his contribution to the company has been outstanding.
“I join him two months later and he was able to fix up the major issues affecting SolTuna which had cost the company for many years.
“I handle all the non-technical issues in the plant and he handles all the technical issues.
“With his experience in tuna processing, he had made a huge impact in the company over the past 10 years,” Chairman SolTuna Board Adrian Wickham said during the farewell ceremony.
He said Mr Alexander and his wife are a lovely team in the Noro community.
“The workforce and the staff just love him because of the respect he had for them. And we will miss him.”
He added that because of Mr Alexander’s love for his employees he also had difficulty dismissing his employees.
Monday’s program started with a welcome back lunch for SolTuna employees, an award ceremony for long service staff and staff with outstanding performance over the past months in the morning and concluded with Mr Alexander’s farewell ceremony.
On that day the GM was still busy in office when his farewell lunch started and instead of going straight to lunch, he decided to join the lunch queue with the rest of the guests and workforce.
“That’s how humble he is,” Mr Wichkam said.
During the farewell lunch all department staff paid tribute to Mr Alexander and his wife for their leadership, support and the legacy they will leave behind when they return to United States of America.
The SolTuna Departments who paid tribute to Mr Alexander are the Human Resource, Quality Control, Administration, Engineering, Finance and Plant Operation.
Employees in each of these departments then took turn to present their farewell songs, dances and present their gifts.
Many employees could not hold back their tears as they shake hands and hug the couple goodbye.
The couple full of emotion also could not hold back their tears as they listen to the speeches and the farewell songs composed and dedicated to them.
The many gifts the couple received that day include carvings, shell-money necklaces, loya cane baskets, sarongs (lava lava), a BBQ plate designed and made by the Engineering Department and food.
According to the employees, these gifts are their token of appreciation for the service Mr Alexander and his wife rendered to the SolTuna family over the years.
The highlight of the ceremony was the performance from the Plant Operations team which consisted of 70 per cent of the employees in the cannery.
This team made their presentation dressed in colourful cultural costumes to represent each of the nine provinces in Solomon Islands where they are from.
A “chupu” consisting of traditional, local food was also presented to the couple.
“We can only say thank you for what you have done for all of us,” one department head representative stated.
During the program, a short video clip was also featured which highlighted some of the activities he had done and the interaction he had with the staff, employees and communities.
Some of the clips saw him having fun and dancing with his employees.
To conclude the farewell reception a retirement cake was brought on stage where the outgoing GM officially cut for everyone to share.
A final dance was staged to conclude the program just around 5.30pm Monday evening.
Meanwhile, Mr Wickham told Solomon Star that a new replacement is now being sought.
Once confirmed, the new GM will be officially announced to the public.
By MOFFAT MAMU
